I am beginning to be convinced that I can't drive my car at night. The
thing must have cut out on me 4 or 5 times this evening while sitting
at a stop. At 900 rpm the ammeter drops to something like -20 or -25
amps. What is going on? A little drop I can understand, but 25 amps!
And this is driving with only my lights on, no killer stereo. I had
run the stereo earlier, but gave up because of the drain at stops.
Still, I only ran the stereo for less than 10 minutes, and the volume
wasn't even that high (although the ammeter read +30 amps at speed).
After I decided to turn off the stereo, the ammeter bumped up to about
+15 amps. But this condition only lasted a few minutes. The meter
soon returned to around 0 at speed. However, the needle would
sometimes jump to +30 or +35, and then at stops would drop to -20 to
-25 amps. I just don't understand it. I don't think the stereo was
run long enough to be a factor, but I guess I could be wrong. At 30
amps draw, how long would it take for a battery significantly drain?
But even if the battery had drained some, why won't the alternator put
out enough to keep the engine running?
Whenever I came to a stop and the idle dropped below 1500 the motor
would start to fade, like it wasn't getting enough fuel. It wouldn't
just die, it would slowly putter out. To keep the engine running I
would have to hit the starter before the motor petered out. It seemed
like hitting the starter gave the coil extra spark or something. But if
the motor died, I would have a helluva time getting it started again,
like the battery was low, but not completely drained.
What gives? Anybody have a clue? I am more convinced than ever that I
need a 60 amp alternator.
Christopher
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